About ZKProof
ZKProof Context
ZKProof is an open-industry academic initiative that seeks to mainstream zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) cryptography through an inclusive, community-driven standardization process that focuses on interoperability and security, toward trusted specifications for the implementation of ZKPs. Annual ZKProof Workshops, attended by world-renowned cryptographers, practitioners and industry leaders, promote dissussion of proposals, present developments in the state of the art, review cutting-edge projects, and contribute new reference material for the community.
The ZKProof.Org movement initiated in 2018, setting a charter, establishing a Steering Committee, and meeting in Boston for a first workshop that collectively produced baseline documents on security, implementation and applications. The movement grew with subsequent workshops, establishing the Editors team, producing initial drafts of a community reference, and publishing several online resources. As an example of reference material, the ZKProof website provides access to more than 150 technical “presentations” given since the inception of ZKProof.
ZKProof Internal Structure
In May of 2023, ZKProof augmented its internal structure, to facilitate the accomplishment of differentiated tasks/goals. The new structure is composed of five (5) core teams/committees: Standards, Editors, Events, Executive, Steering. Some of these may progressively gather a larger task-force including collaborators from the community, possibly integrated in focused working groups. In the following are brief descriptions of the scope of each team/committee.
- Standards: Responsible for coordinating a process for development of specifications for ZKProof review and homologation toward potential adoption as standards. Some work can also be in the direction of supporting external initiatives, such as in reply to submission calls by other standardization bodies. Contact:
standards (at) zkproof (dot) org - Editors: Responsible for the curation and editing of useful ZKProof reference material, notably including the ZKProof Community Reference (ZkpComRef), and the online resources at docs.zkproof.org. The team will also set time-framed goals of public contributions for the development of online resources. Contact:
editors (at) zkproof (dot) org - Events: Responsible for organizing at least one International ZKProof Workshop per year. Can possibly also coordinate other events. Each event will gather useful contributions from the overall expert community, and will create a space for public discussions and promotion of the work developed by the other ZKProof teams. Contact:
events (at) zkproof (dot) org - Executive: Responsible for administrative actions, including related to accounting, funding, Internet domain ownership, and public relations (when applicable redirecting contacts to the pertinent teams). The team must include at least three SC members and at least one member from each other team, besides other members. Contact:
exec (at) zkproof (dot) org,contact (at) zkproof (dot) org - Steering: Responsible for assessing the progress of the ZKProof organization and outputs, organizing at least one annual ZKProof Internal Meeting for such assessment, and coordinating the publication of an annual “ZKProof Annual Status Report”, including contributions from the other teams. Contact:
steering (at) zkproof (dot) org
| Team (or committee) | Main tasks/goals |
|---|---|
| Editors | <ul><li>Update the ZkpComRef</li><li>Maintain resources at docs.zkproof.com</li><li>Coordinate public calls for contributions for specific reference-material resources</li></ul> |
| Standards | <ul><li>Oversee the development of working groups writing ZKProof specifications, including interim meetings for open discussion of their progress</li><li>Establish a procedure to normalize the review, feedback and homologation of ZKProof specifications (and decide when to call them ZKProof standards)</li><li>Support possible submissions or contributions in the scope of processes from other standardization organizations</li></ul> |
| Events | <ul><li>Organize International ZKProof events, including one open Annual ZKProof Workshop.</li><li>Open online meetings for dissemination of ZKProof Status updates and community outreach.</li></ul> |
| Executive | <ul><li>Coordinate administrative actions (accounting, funding, public relations), and support the SC in its internal meetings.</li></ul> |
| Steering | <ul><li>Support the development of the ZKProof vision and goals</li><li>Assess the ZKProof progress</li><li>Publish Annual ZKProof Status Reports</li></ul> |
Notes on various roles:
- Core members: Each team is composed of a group of so-called core members. The core membership can be sporadically revised by each team, and its composition should be kept publicly updated, as well as informed to the Steering Committee (SC).
- Task force / collaborators. Each team is responsible for overseeing/coordinating its corresponding “Task Force”, which can include “contributors” and working groups. ZKProof is actively seeking volunteers from the zero-knowledge space. Please reach out to the editors (by email or in person at a ZKProof event), with any expression of interest to collaborate.
- Chairs. Each team/committee elects, by majority, one of their core members to be the “chair”, whose responsibility includes coordinating the scheduling of meetings of the core team and of the task-force, and ensuring that a yearly report contribution is sent to the SC.
- Executive liaisons: At least one core member of each team (other than the executive team) shall also be a member of the executive team and participate in the regular meetings of the executive team.
- Observers: The progress of each team (other than the SC) shall be periodically accompanied / sanity-checked by one or two SC-members (that are not core members of the team), who are assigned as “observers” of the team. Correspondingly, at least one annual meeting of the SC includes the presence of at least one non-SC member from each other team. This is expected to facilitate cross-awareness between the teams. (Note: SC members can also be involved as core members or as collaborators on any other team.)